Strengthening buildings to withstand terrorist bomb attacks

When a building shakes or crumbles, do not follow your instincts and run to an open field. Instead, head for a very small space -- the bomb shelter. This is the advice from a top expert on making buildings disaster-proof.

That is why bomb shelters are built small, says Professor Pan Tso-Chien, Executive Director, Institute of Catastrophe Risk Management. The institute, set up in 2010 in the Nanyang Technological University, does risk assessments of terror and missile attacks, as well as catastrophes caused by earthquakes, tsunamis and typhoons.

The protection of infrastructure has become an important part of a country's counter-terrorism strategies because buildings that are resistant to terror attacks or remain standing for a long time following an attack can help save lives.

Terrorists are also getting good at bombing one building and making it crash onto other nearby buildings, he says.

Prof Pan Tso-Chien, executive director of the Institute of Catastrophic Management at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), pictured on Feb 7, 2014. When a building shakes or crumbles, do not follow your instincts and run to an open field. Instead, head for a very small space -- the bomb shelter. This is the advice from a top expert on making buildings disaster-proof. -- ST FILE PHOTO: MARK CHEONG